MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF gives Argentina more time to remedy quality of official CPI and GDP data

Director Lagarde made the presentation that decided Argentina will be given one more year to fully implement the changes agreed with the Fund

The International Monetary Fund extended the period given to Argentina to remedy its local statistical measurement tools, while recognizing the country has made advancements in the matter. The IMF directive board met on Wednesday in Washington to assess Argentina's statistical indexes.

 Director Christine Lagarde presented a document that stated that, although Argentina has made improvements in its IPCNu (National Urban Consumer Price Index) and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) indexes, the country will be given one more year to fully implement the changes agreed with the international organization.

According to the official release, ”the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met on June 3, 2015 to consider the Managing Director’s report on Argentina’s progress in implementing the third set of specified actions called for by the Executive Board in December 2013 to address the quality of the official data reported to the Fund for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The Executive Board recognized the ongoing discussions with the Argentine authorities and their material progress in remedying the inaccurate provision of CPI and GDP statistics since 2013.

”However, it determined that Argentina is not yet in full compliance with its obligation under Article VIII, Section 5 with respect to the accurate provision of CPI and GDP data to the Fund. It found that some specified actions called for by end-February 2015 had not yet been completely implemented.

“For this reason, the Executive Board decided to extend the ongoing process by one year to give additional time to remedy the provision of inaccurate official data and to undertake an additional set of specified actions. The Managing Director will report to the Executive Board on the status of Argentina’s implementation of the specified actions by July 15, 2016. At that time, the Executive Board will again review this issue, in line with IMF procedures”.

The IMF, which requires accurate data to analyze the world's economies, censured Argentina in 2013 over failing to improve its inflation and GDP figures, putting the country at risk of official sanctions that could have barred it from voting on IMF policies and from accessing financing.

The IMF later signaled that Latin America's third-largest economy was making progress in improving its data quality and gave it a timeline for improvements, which it said on Wednesday had not been completely met.